2542 reverse power

[vtcress]

While plowing snow I have noticed a significant loss of drive in the reverse mode. I know the speed is reduced to 1/2 but there seems to be a slipping effect built into the hydro, like an overload clutch. No problem in forward, only in reverse. Just wondered if that is how this hydro is designed or if there is a problem with the tractor. It has only about 30 hours on it and during the summer it worked OK, except there is little effort called for in mowing yard grass. Snow plowing on the other hand calls for more power, especially to back out of a ditch or when snow is packed around the machine. When the front end was in the ditch, it appeared that the hydro in reverse was trying, but not that hard and yet no rear wheels were slipping. Any insights are appreciated.
charlie in vt

 

[LBrown59]

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[AndyM]

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Speak a little louder, I can't hear you!

 

[LBrown59]

Speak a little louder, I can't hear you!

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[AndyM]

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Morse code?

 

[Mike5252]

Have you checked the linkage on the reverse pedal? There have been a couple posts on this over the summer where 2500 series tractors needed to have the pedal linkage adjusted to fully actuate reserve on the hydro transmission.

 

[vtcress]

Thanks, I will do that, but when it gets a little warmer. It goes but not with must power. At least that will give me a starting point. I have noticed a very slow reverse response when going into reverse. Its not like my old yardking with the the peerless hydro, but then thats why the hydro broke twice. It was much like a racing go-cart where you could shift into reverse while going forward and spin the wheels backwards while still moving forwards. Trouble is with old retired guys, we still remember the fun of our youth.
charlie in vt

 

[Dave01]

Charlie, I think Mike is right, its just a linkage adjustment. When new our 3204 had this problem, you would mash the reverse pedal to move at all and if backing up an incline it would barely go. It just needed adjustment and ran fine after that. If you had a hydro problem I think you would feel the same loss of power whether moving forward or reverse.

Don't wait for warm weather, it should be a very simple adjustment. Just take a look at the linkage from the pedals to the control valve, if I remember correctly it was just a locking nut and threaded rod.

 

[vtcress]

Thanks Dave for the confirmation that its a simple adjustment. I looked it up in the manual but still will wait at least until the sun comes out. I know its warmer that usual but its still cold on this old body. At the rate we are going we might not even need to plow again. I hear the cherry blossoms are already out in DC.
charlie in vt

 

[TractorLarry]

It is currently 55 in the DC area. I think winter has bypassed us this year!

-Larry

 

[ducati996]

Whatever you do dont mash the pedal - Its not that strong in the linkage department. The bushing and stuff do require modest and frequentl lubrication. Its should be straight forward once underneath the machine looking under the footpedals. See if anything is binding, and you might want to think about removing the reverse PTO switch/tab. This might give you more reverse power as well.

 

[vtcress]

Are you indicating that the reverse switch on the brake linkage,that sends a ground signal to disengage the pto, might limit the travel on the reverse linkage to the hydro?
I have not looked at it but if thats how its implemented, that would be a possibility. Thanks, I'll take a look at that as well.
charlie

 

[ducati996]

Are you indicating that the reverse switch on the brake linkage,that sends a ground signal to disengage the pto, might limit the travel on the reverse linkage to the hydro?
I have not looked at it but if thats how its implemented, that would be a possibility. Thanks, I'll take a look at that as well.
charlie

It did on my 3000 series machine (3204). I cant say if the layout has changed but its worth checking out

 

[vtcress]

Charlie, I think Mike is right, its just a linkage adjustment. When new our 3204 had this problem, you would mash the reverse pedal to move at all and if backing up an incline it would barely go. It just needed adjustment and ran fine after that. If you had a hydro problem I think you would feel the same loss of power whether moving forward or reverse.

Don't wait for warm weather, it should be a very simple adjustment. Just take a look at the linkage from the pedals to the control valve, if I remember correctly it was just a locking nut and threaded rod.

Thanks very much Mike and Dave, thats exactly what it was, a simple adjustment on the rod. The manual (06 manual) is a bit more complicated than the task really is, if its even correct. The area in the manual talks about removing the cotter key end of the reverse rod, an impossible task with the deck covering on, at least for me. I discovered that if you slide the adjustment too far, you simply trade off forward speed to reverse speed ....had it going faster in reverse. The correct balance seem to be, as you would expect, about in the middle of the slot. The task simply was to loosen the bolts and change the location in the slot. No need to do anything else.
Thanks again
charlie in 42 degree VT.

 

[Dave01]

Glad to hear you are moving backward Charlie, now don't run over anything with all that speed!

I'm remembering the linkage now. The manual isn't wrong, think of it as two different adjustments that are related. You balanced the reverse speed with forward to get the amount of reverse speed you wanted, but you sacrificed some forward speed (which you may not need, its up to you). If you want to gain the reverse speed without losing any forward, you do have to remove the pin and turn the whole rod to extend it. You can always do this later when you have the deck off for cleaning.

This winter is nuts. 42 degree VT on January 3rd? In my entire life I don't remember day after day in the 40's extending right into January.

 

[vtcress]

Glad to hear you are moving backward Charlie, now don't run over anything with all that speed!

I'm remembering the linkage now. The manual isn't wrong, think of it as two different adjustments that are related. You balanced the reverse speed with forward to get the amount of reverse speed you wanted, but you sacrificed some forward speed (which you may not need, its up to you). If you want to gain the reverse speed without losing any forward, you do have to remove the pin and turn the whole rod to extend it. You can always do this later when you have the deck off for cleaning.

This winter is nuts. 42 degree VT on January 3rd? In my entire life I don't remember day after day in the 40's extending right into January.

I do have the deck off, I should have said the floor pan. That reverse part of the linkage is buried up in there a ways. Maybe the plow arms are in the way some but it still will be a bear. (My plow attaches to the rear hitch pin.) Too bad the panels do not provide access to that area easily from the top. A tilt up rear section would be nice, like the hood of a semi. As you say its a trade off in speed but both forward and reverse go faster than I need or want so I may just leave it that way.
Thanks again
charlie

 

[LBrown59]

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Morse code?

Translation> bump

 

[vtcress]

I do have the deck off, I should have said the floor pan. That reverse part of the linkage is buried up in there a ways. Maybe the plow arms are in the way some but it still will be a bear. (My plow attaches to the rear hitch pin.) Too bad the panels do not provide access to that area easily from the top. A tilt up rear section would be nice, like the hood of a semi. As you say its a trade off in speed but both forward and reverse go faster than I need or want so I may just leave it that way.
Thanks again
charlie

I actually think what may have happened is that the 2 arms are held with 2 closely spaced bolts. That allows the arms to drop drop down some when the bolts are loose and the arms go out of parallelism. If the arms drop down, there is less travel above when pressing on the reverse pedal as it bottoms out. The slot adjustment is now not much different than before but the pedal is much higher. Anyway, I now have gusto forward and reverse power. thanks again to those who responded.
charlie in vt....waiting for more snow.

 

[vtcress]

Well we got 3 or 4 more inches of snow today and I guess I can say the same as the other thread....WOW...what a difference. Plenty of reverse power and snappy. Glad to see it was only an adjustment. Can even spin wheels in reverse now. Thanks to those who helped.
charlie